Another South Carolina defender enters transfer portal

Jordan Kaye
Sam Wolfe/Special To The State

For the first time this month, coach Shane Beamer and the South Carolina football team have lost a player to the transfer portal.

On Wednesday afternoon, 247Sports and On3 reported that USC edge rusher Drew Tuazama had entered the transfer portal. Tuazama was not listed on the Gamecocks’ latest online roster, and a school spokesman confirmed the defender was in the portal.

Some might be wondering: Didn’t the transfer portal close on April 30? How is South Carolina losing guys in May?

Well, the transfer portal did close over a week ago but graduate students, like Tuazama, are allowed to enter the portal at any time.

So Tuazama will move on from South Carolina for his sixth — and final — year of college football. And what a wild six years it has been. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Raleigh native began his college career at Syracuse in 2019. He was in upstate New York for two years before transferring to East Mississippi Community College (of Last Chance U fame), before bouncing back and playing the 2022 season at UAB.

In 2023, he moved on to his fourth college football program, committing with South Carolina as a grad transfer. He joined the Gamecocks as an EDGE for fall camp in August but struggled to find a role. Last season, Tuazama played in just five games and recorded one sack.

With the Gamecocks bolstering up their EDGE room this offseason, bringing on transfers Gilber Edmond and Kyle Kennard, along with five-star freshman Dylan Stewart, it was going to be an uphill battle for Tuazama to see the field.

South Carolina football players in the portal post-spring

  • OL Jaxon Hughes

  • OL Sidney Fugar

  • WR Joseph Morris

  • DB Keenan Nelson Jr.

  • EDGE Drew Tuazama

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